Dead Man Walking
by Mellifeathers
Summary: When Malice Grimes is found on the brink of death, Merle Dixon is the one that saves her and brings her into the Atlanta group. An immediate bond forms between them and she rarely leaves his side. She later becomes seperated from the group, moments away of being reunited with her brother Rick, but finds a way to survive with hope of seeing Merle and Rick again someday. (Merle/OC)


"Hey Malice!" She heard the familiar scratchy voice from the older Dixon.  
"Waddaya want Merle?" She yelled back at him while running up to him with a big smile on her face. Shane watched her from further away and saw the way she looked up at the big guy who could've be her father.

Merle Dixon was a brute, racist, violent hot head with a short temper. No one liked him in the Atlanta group, except for Malice Grimes. Everyone kept their distance from the Dixon brothers and Lori had warned Malice multiple times about the man, but Malice was fascinated by the stories the man told her and loved the way he would smile only for her. He was her hero.

It made Shane sick to his stomach.

"I heard one of the guys was giving you trouble," Merle said while puffing himself up unconsciously and as a defending reaction. If he knew who the guy was, he would've killed him. And that wasn't even a joke. Merle Dixon was as violent as they could come.

"Yeah, he was harassing me. I kicked him in the balls," she said proudly.

"That's my girl," he smiled at her.

Shane disliked the idea of Malice talking to Merle, but he didn't do her any harm. On the contrary, he had saved her life before she had been reunited with the group. She had grown fond of the older man and everyone knew it. Some didn't care, others disagreed with their friendship. Merle was the trouble maker of the group and had a loud mouth, but Malice enjoyed his rants. The only big problem for Malice was the rivalry between Shane and the brute.

Malice had always been a dear friend to Shane, seeing as he was her brother's colleague. Rick Grimes and Shane Walsh had worked together for many years and had been friends for ages. Ever since Malice could remember and she had always enjoyed his company. She had been best friends with Lori, Rick's wife and their son, Carl. But when Rick was shot, he was hopitalized and a few weeks later the Walker outbreak struck.

Shane had immediately gone to get Lori and Carl to safety, after visiting Rick in the hospital who was almost declared dead, just as the place was overrun by soldiers, murdering people. He had barricaded the room with a hospital bed, so no one could get in and would think it was empty. But when he wanted to go get Malice, she was already gone. Blood smeared the walls of her apartment, her roommate lay dead on the floor, eaten alive, chunks missing from her body and Malice was nowhere to be found.

Guessing the worst had happened, Shane took Lori and Carl to safety and headed out of town, while Malice was fleeing through the woods and trying to hide from the Walkers that followed.

She had hid in a cabin for two weeks, corpses scattered the place seeing as she had stabbed a few Walkers through the head when they got too close. But she slowly grew weaker and weaker, knowing she couldn't go back to the city and eating only an apple or a cracker a day, but having enough water to survive so long.

She was starving and sleeping when Merle had gone to loot cabins, tents and whatever he could find. He walked in and saw her lying down and obviously saw the rise and fall of her body from her heavy breathing. But aiming his gun at her, he tapped her and she jumped up out of fear. It took everything not to pull the trigger by the sudden shock that she moved so quickly. Malice had stared at him, realizing he was alive and when the shock had settled, she clutched to his body in desperation, not wanting to die and needing the reassurance of a person. And at that moment, the strangest thing happened. Merle Dixon, the most vulgar and hotheaded man of Atlanta took her into his arms and held her until she stopped shaking. She had looked up at him with tears in her eyes, smiled and he had brushed her hair out of her face and took her back to Atlanta group.

She was reunited at the camp with Shane, Lori and Carl which was a heartbreaking moment for them, seeing as they had thought never to see each other again. And when hearing that they had to leave her brother, Rick behind because he was dead, her heart broke into tiny pieces and felt even more devastating than when the walker outbreak hit. She hadn't realized what she had lost until it had come to that, and she had wished she hadn't known.

Shane had taken Lori and Carl under his wing and had done everything for them, taking place as the father and husband role. His feelings rapidly grew for Lori as did hers for Shane, out of pure weakness and vulnerability that her husband had died.

Malice had always had feelings for Shane, whenever she visited Rick, he had always been there. She hated to admit it now, but she had shared the bed with him multiple times, but they never started a relationship. And quickly after being reunited with her friends and family, she grew disgusted with Shane and Lori when she found out that they were sleeping together. She didn't want anything to do with Shane and Lori anymore and kept a safe distance, only communicating with her sweet nephew who was growing up faster than ever before. She hated that Lori had moved on so quickly and that Shane had jumped on the opportunity so quickly. But Shane still cared about Malice, much to Merle's dismay who had taken care of her like a wounded puppy while Shane fucked Malice's sister in law, thinking no one would find out.

Malice often hunted with Merle and his younger brother, Daryl Dixon. Merle had taught her how to set traps and shoot a gun, while Daryl often mocked and teased her about things she did wrong. Merle had been the one to teach Malice quick enough how to survive the wild, while Shane took place as the leader amongst the group, having the Dixons and his former lover rebel against most things he said.

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_This is my new The Walking Dead/Merle Dixon fanfiction. I honestly love Merle as a character and think he's really interesting to write about. And Malice just came to mind, she will be the only OC in this story. So I hope y'all will enjoy this story and leave some feedback for me. 3 Remember, I'm just a Dutchie, so I hope my English isn't too bad! _

_Please review 3_


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